by Naomi Niles
“See, and if you cut it, no one is going to think you look like that.”
“That’s okay; I would rather look like me anyway. I knew a boy in high school who was obsessed with The Two Towers and wanted to go out with me because he thought I looked like Eowyn. He ended up marrying a girl who looked like Arwen.”
Nic gave me a blank stare. “I don’t know who any of these people are.”
“Arwen is the other girl in those movies.”
“Oh, right.”
So after we left Waffle House, I went and did it. I got my hair cut, and I was only a little scared, and the barber, whose name was Selena, kept asking me if I was nervous because my shoulders and arms were shaking. I was so nervous I didn’t risk looking into the mirror even once until she was completely finished and my beautiful blonde Eowyn hair lay in a pile on the floor like a carpet with dandruff in it.
But when I saw how I looked in the mirror, I was glad I had done it. It was so short—it didn’t even go down to my shoulders, and there was so much less of it. And Nic was right; I loved the feel of it on my head now. I kept shaking my head and letting it fall into my eyes because it felt so light and brisk like a cool wind after the rain.
“Well, when we go to the bars now,” said Nic, surveying me approvingly, “you’re definitely going to need to show your ID.”
“I’ll probably get arrested for driving as a minor,” I said, “but I don’t even care; I love this hair. You know the feeling when you change out of your work clothes and your stinky old shoes and put on a pair of short shorts and an old t-shirt? That’s how I feel right now. It feels like I lost a hundred pounds that were just sitting on my body not doing anything. I’m definitely having a dance party when I get home tonight.”
“You ought to weigh yourself when you get home,” said Nic. “I bet you don’t weigh more than ninety pounds now.”
“I probably don’t. That’s how much I weighed in middle school, the last time I had it cut this short.”
“Have you grown even a little since you were in junior high?”
I shook my head sadly. “Not even an inch.”
The feeling of elation persisted as we left the hair salon and walked out into the cold spring sunlight. I really wanted to skip down the sidewalk, and I might have done it if Nic hadn’t been there. It was a perfect day for going to the park and sitting on a blanket at the top of a hill, eating tangerines and blowing bubbles. I promised myself if I ever had a boyfriend, I would make him do all those things with me.
It took us about twenty minutes to reach the location indicated on the flyer. Nic parked the car in the middle of a large parking lot filled mostly with trucks, motorcycles, and newly restored vintage cars. At the end of a long strip of gray asphalt stood three brightly painted Mustangs and a Porsche 944. Their owners stood beside them beaming proudly and talking to the crowds of enthusiasts—mostly suburban moms and tattooed guys in sleeveless shirts who looked like they had grown up listening to Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Nic nudged me in the ribs and motioned to the third Mustang. “Look, it’s Darren! We ought to go say hi.”
“But what if we’re so cute it distracts him?”
“You ask that as though it’s a bad thing.” She ran on ahead, and I raced to keep up. But before we had reached him, Adam came running up and whispered something into his ear. Together, they strode away a few paces behind the row of cars.
Sometimes, I could read lips, but at this distance, it was hard to make out what they were saying. Adam kept waving arms in the air and pointing in our direction, while Darren just shook his head and rolled his eyes like he didn’t have time for this nonsense.
“Why do I have an uncanny feeling I know exactly what they’re arguing about?” asked Nic.
Finally, after what felt like ten minutes, Darren came running over toward us. Adam ran behind him with arms outstretched as though trying to stop him. But Darren proved too quick, and before very long he gave up in defeat.
“Friend of mine over there had a funny story about you two ladies,” said Darren, jerking his thumb toward Adam. “I told him I didn’t believe a word of it.”
“What did he say?” I asked.
“Says he ran into you both at a bar the other night. Says you’re both police.”
Nic doubled over, shaking so hard with laughter it was a good three minutes before she was able to speak.
“If we were police,” she said slowly, tears in her eyes, “why would we both work at an auto parts store?”
“THAT’S WHAT I TOLD HIM!” shouted Darren. “But he wouldn’t listen! Swears y’all are cops and you’ve shown up to shut down the race.”
“Adam, it’s alright!” I called after him. “We’re not here to arrest you.”
“We don’t even have the legal authority to do that!” Nic added.
By now, the sun was just high enough in the sky to be in all of our eyes. Slowly and cautiously, Adam loped forward, sheepishly blinking back sunlight. “You sure about that?”
“If we were going to arrest you,” said Nic, “we’d have already done it.”
He stood there in silence for a moment, not looking particularly reassured. It was like he was just waiting for the two of us to rip off our shirts and reveal our uniforms and badges. “Did you get a haircut?” he asked, looking at me in surprise.
“I did!” I reached up and flounced it with both hands. “Do you like it?”
“It looks adorable,” said Darren, stepping forward and looking over it for what felt like a strangely long time. “I hope you tipped whoever cut it. They did a really good job.”
If I could have run away just then and screamed into a pillow with surprise and excitement, I would have. A boy liked my hair! He actually liked it. But instead, I reminded myself that I was an adult hanging out with a bunch of adults, and I needed to hold it together. “Thank you,” I said with a curt nod. “It’s very nice of you to say that.”
Darren blinked back confusion as if this wasn’t the response he had been expecting. “Did y’all hear about the money prize they’re handing out today?”
“No, how much is it?” asked Nic, who always took a keen interest in matters of money.
“The winner of the race gets forty thousand dollars.”
“Wow!” Nic doubled over in surprise, her hands on her legs. “Wait, did you say four thousand or forty thousand?”
“Forty thousand.”
“Wow! With a prize like that, I could put myself through school. I wouldn’t even have to take out a loan.”
“I could buy a fishing boat,” I said.
The three of them turned to face me with bemused looks. “Why would you want a fishing boat?” asked Nic.
“So I could go fishing. What would y’all do if you won?”
“Shoot, I don’t know.” Darren scratched the back of his neck. “There’s so many things I’d want to do with it; I’m afraid I would end up spending all of it the moment I got it.”
“You have to be careful,” I said gravely. “I had a cousin who won ten thousand dollars in one of those Pepsi-Colas giveaways and ended up spending all of it on ice flurries at McDonalds.”
“Is everyone in your family like this?” asked Nic.
“Like what?”
“If I had that much money…” said Adam. He paused and stroked his goatee thoughtfully. “I might as well just save it and tell girls I was rich!”
“Shit, forty thousand ain’t rich,” said Darren with a shake of his head.
“No, but it’s close. It’s more than I’ve got!”
“Ain’t that right. I bet I’d probably end up giving it all to my mom. If not, I’d have to get the heck out of town before my brothers found out about it and suddenly decided we were friends.”
“I almost wish I was competing today,” said Nic sadly. Reaching over and grabbing me by the arm, she began to shake me dramatically. “Penny, what are we doing with our lives? Why are we working in an auto parts store?”
“
You can quit at any time.”
“I don’t want to sell parts; I want to fix cars and make forty thousand dollars in a race. Then I want all the guys to take me out for dinner and tell me what a babe I am.”
“They already do,” I pointed out.
“I know, but it would mean more if I had money. Then I could buy a house on Martha’s Vineyard and go windsurfing with my golden retriever. I would never have to worry about anything.”
“I’d go out with you,” said Adam, “even if you weren’t loaded with cash.”
For a moment, I thought Nic was going to take him up on this offer, but instead, she flung out one hand like an Egyptian queen. “That relationship would turn very tragic,” she said, “when I had to arrest you.”
“Well, there are four guys in this race,” said Darren. “Adam and me are both racing, so the odds of one of us winning is fifty-fifty.”
“Never tell me the odds, kid,’” muttered Adam.
Nic nudged me in the ribs and whispered, “That’s a Star Wars reference.”
“Thanks, I got it,” I replied.
“Just promise you won’t shoot me and steal the money if I end up being the one who wins it,” Adam said to Darren.
“Shoot, I ain’t makin’ no promises,” said Darren.
Just then, there was a sound of loud guitar music from over by the stands where the audience was gathering, and I heard someone behind us yelling, “The race is about to start!” The crowd that had gathered around the cars began to disperse, and the other drivers began putting on their helmets.
Darren nodded soberly at Adam, who nodded back. “Guess this is it,” said Darren.
“Guess it is,” said Adam, coming forward and shaking his hand. “Good luck.”
Nic reached into her purse and pulled out her sunglasses, the big ones that made her look like a ladybug. “Well, shall we go find our seats?”
I followed her quietly into the stands. The wind felt cool on my face and hair, and I was grinning irrepressibly, Darren’s voice playing in my head like a recording. He said he had liked my hair! Somehow it had been worth it getting my hair cut, just for that one moment.
Chapter Nine
Darren
Talking to the girls turned out to have been all the preparation I needed. Penny was like a bolt out of a blue sky, someone too good for this world. Talking to her felt like downing a whole package of Pixie Stix. My head felt light, and I could feel adrenaline pumping through me as I slid behind the wheel of the Mustang.
In the rearview mirror, I could see her and her friend heading off toward the stands together, squinting against the sun. It was hard to tell from the look on her face whether or not she had enjoyed the conversation. The only thing I knew for sure was how adorable she looked. She was wearing a white and yellow t-shirt with a large smiley face on the front of it. When we had first met a few days ago, her hair was so long I thought maybe she was Amish, but now she had cut it above the shoulders, and it really brought out the girlishness of her face.
She was so little I could have easily wrapped her up in my arms and tucked her under my chin. I wanted to do it, but I didn’t want to scare her away when we’d only just met. Maybe if I won the race, she would run up and hug me herself.
I could feel my heart racing as I turned the key in the ignition. In the distance, I could hear the announcers giving instructions, but I barely listened. I already knew what needed to be done. I was ready.
The crowd in the stands was on its feet cheering. A boy in a red t-shirt held up a half-eaten hot dog in one hand as if waving a flag. Beside him his father peered through binoculars down at us, a smile of anticipation on his face. I looked for Nic and Penny but didn’t see them; they had disappeared into the crowd.
With two minutes to start time, Dickie came running up and tapped on the window.
“You sure we fixed this thing up, right?” I asked him as I revved the engine. “I don’t want pieces flying off.”
“You’re the one who tested it, not me,” Dickie shrugged.
“I don’t care if it turns into the Eye of Sauron as long as it gets me over the finish line. I’m going to be pretty damned disappointed if I end up losing forty thousand dollars to Adam.”
“There are some humiliations that can never be lived down,” Dickie said solemnly. “You may have to leave town.”
“If you find the remains of a body in the flaming wreck of this car, don’t worry too much about it. I’ll be on my way to Jamaica to start a new life.”
“It would help if you had the money before you escaped to the Tropics,” he pointed out. “But if anyone asks, I’ll pretend like I don’t know anything.”
I reached my hand through the window and gave him a fist bump. “You always were a good friend to me.”
By now, all the cars on the strip were revving up. Darren turned with a pleased look and trotted off toward the stands. I adjusted my rearview mirror so I could see Adam; his eyes were rooted to the road in front of him, and his lips were silently moving as though in prayer.
The next few moments seemed to pass in an instant. I heard the voice of the announcer telling us the race was starting. He told us to go, and we went. I flew down the runway with the other three cars in close pursuit. The stands vanished into the distance, replaced by the green and blue blur of fields and skies to left and right.
Soon, two of the cars had fallen behind, and Adam remained my only real competitor. He lagged behind by only a few inches and was gaining fast. By this point in the race, my reflexes were automatic. I had given up thinking and was running on adrenaline and instinct. I pressed hard on the accelerator until I had placed a few feet of distance between us.
That was all I needed. Within a few seconds, I had shot across the finish line with Adam at my heels. Behind us, I could hear the roar of the crowd. I tried to imagine the elation on Penny’s face when she saw I had won—shooting up out of her seat with her fist in the air and my name on her lips, the announcer shouting, “I give you… Darren!”
Somehow, I had forgotten all about the money until Adam came walking up to me and shook my hand. “Well, you really did it,” he said. “I didn’t think you could do it.”
“You should learn to have more faith in me, Adam.”
“You certainly have enough faith in yourself.” He waited a beat before adding, “What are you going to do now with all that money?”
“Probably buy a million Pixie Stix.” It was a weirdly Penny-ish thing to say, and he looked at me as though wondering if I was okay. “Or I might splurge it all on a single very nice dinner.”
“It had better be a hell of a dinner,” said Adam.
But before I could answer, Nic and Penny came running up to us. Penny was beaming, and even the smile on her shirt seemed happier than before. Just when it seemed like she was going to attack me with a hug, she slowed and hung back slightly with a shy look on her face.
“I can’t believe you won!” she exclaimed in that adorable voice. “I told Nic you were going to win, but she didn’t believe me.”
“Pen, you weren’t supposed to say that,” moaned Nic. She always seemed frustrated with Penny, but Penny either didn’t notice or didn’t care.
“I know you couldn’t see me smiling at you, but I was. I bet that was what powered you over the finish line.”
“It definitely was,” I replied. “I’d never have won if it wasn’t for you.”
“See? Look at me being a good influence.”
“I’ll have to find some way to repay you.” I thought about it for a minute before asking, “Would you like to sit in the driver’s seat?”
Penny raised herself up, and her eyes lit up. “Are you for real? I’d love to!”
I opened the door, and she slid into the driver’s seat with the ease and assurance of a professional driver. She was so little, it was a wonder she could see over the steering wheel. “I’ve always wanted to drive one of these things,” she said quietly. “Growing up, my dad and I used to wa
tch the races together on TV. And I tried to imagine how it would feel to be behind the wheel of a fast car and to hear the crowds cheering my name.”
“If you want, I’ll cheer your name for you.”
Penny rolled her eyes and smiled. “You’re welcome to. I just wish there were a few thousand more of you.”
“Well, that’s the great thing about me,” I replied. “There’s only one of me.”
Stifling a laugh, she reached up and adjusted the rearview mirror. “Do you think Adam likes me?” she asked in a whisper. “He’s been acting flirty ever since we met.”
Whatever high I had been on since the end of the race dissipated in an instant. A shudder of disappointment rippled through me as I watched her watching Adam. It really seemed like Penny was into me, but apparently, my confidence had been misplaced. Penny liked Adam; she had liked him all along. I wasn’t the hero; I was just a side character in someone else’s romance.
It was hard to feel excited about my money knowing I had been wrong about her. I might have won the race, but I had lost the prize.
Just then, however, I heard something that was arguably worse than the sound of my heart breaking. A glance in the rearview mirror confirmed my suspicions: the police had found out about us. A small army of police cars was swarming the strip. We were all about to be busted.
“Shoot!” shouted Penny, gripping the steering wheel tightly. It was an absurd thought at the moment, but I wondered if she had ever cussed before. “Are we about to be arrested?”
“Not if we drive like hell.”
“I don’t have time to switch seats with you!” she exclaimed. But before I could answer, she sat up with a look of miraculous calm and said, “It’s okay; I’ve got this.”
“Do you think—”
But before I could finish the question, I was jerked back, and the words were ripped from my throat. Penny had taken off over the strip with the cops in fast pursuit, and we were either going to hell or prison, but judging from the look of manic delight in her eyes, it seemed clear that she didn’t care which.